Secret lanthanides.

Abstract Lanthanides are a group of 15 chemical elements which, together with their salts, have come to be used in the last decade as homoeopathic remedies. The effective introduction of lanthanides and their salts into the clinical use, as homoeopathic remedies was based on the idea of Jan Scholten, MD to relate their physicochemical properties shown in the periodic table of elements to their homoeopathic potential. The lanthanides and their salts were prepared as homoeopathic remedies by Pharmacist Robert Münz.


Introduction
The fact that lanthanides are the largest group in the periodic table was mentioned in a previous article [1]. They are highly electropositive and reactive metals. The spectral and magnetic properties of lanthanide ions are remarkable. Lanthanide complexes as well as their simple salts are used more and more in fields such as Biology, Biochemistry and Medicine.
The purpose of this article is to present to medical and pharmaceutical specialists an event pertaining to the area of complementary medicine, specifically to homeopathic pharmacotherapy, that is, the introduction into clinical use, of an entire group of homeopathic remedies, the lanthanides and their compounds nearly ten years ago. We owe this event to a homeopathic doctor with chemistry background, Jan Scholten MD, and to a homeopathic pharmacist, Magister Robert Münz.
The introduction into clinical use of lanthanides and their salts was based on the inspired, or should we say, genius idea of deriving their homeopathic potential from the chemical properties of lanthanides as they appeared in the classical periodic system, more precisely from the understanding of this system on the light of element theory (Scholten).

Discussion
In order to understand the origins and the historical evolution of this phenomenon, we will draw a parallel between the Mendeleev's classical periodic system of elements and the periodic table of the same elements in Jan Scholten's vision [3].
A periodic system of elements is an ordering of the chemical elements with the purpose of gaining knowledge about the substances that nature builds upon. This ordering, of course, requires a criterion.
In 1869, the Russian chemist Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (1834-1907) published the Principles of Chemistry, translated into English in 1891. This work formulated the law of periodicity of the properties of chemical elements. Based on this, Mendeleev established a classification of the elements, better known as the periodic system of elements. This scientific breakthrough was made possible by the previous discovery, in the late eighteenth and nineteenth century, of a large number of chemicals including: hydrogen (1766 Cavendish), oxygen (1771 Scheele), nitrogen (1772 Rutherford), chlorine (1774 Scheele), potassium, sodium (1807 Davy), calcium (1808 Davy), aluminum (1825 Ørsted).
Mendeleev came up with the idea of arranging the elements in an order that presupposes increasing atomic mass. He noticed that, as the atomic masses increased, properties seemed to repeat at every eight elements. Based on this arrangement and the knowledge at that time, Mendeleev predicted the existence of other elements, which had yet to be discovered, and left free blanks in the periodic table. As foreseen, these gaps would later be filled by newly discovered elements. However, despite the firm conviction, at that time, that atomic mass should be the criterion in establishing the order of elements, Mendeleev's good common sense and the obvious chemical properties of certain elements led him to accept three inversions within his own framework: Cobalt/Nickel, Tellurium/Iodine, Argon/ Potassium. This would eventually prove that the chemical properties of   a distinctive personality. Just as Mendeleev predicted the existence of yet unknown elements based on the consequences of the periodic law, so did Jan Scholten anticipate the clinical picture of the remedies obtained from the lanthanides and their salts based on the peculiarity of their electronic structures. He had tested the validity of this approach by applying it to the already known mineral remedies [4,5]. Jan Scholten performed an exercise regarding pattern recognition, a technique so modern in scientific research and practice and yet so old in reality, if we recall the theory of signatures and, to go even further back in time, Plato's shadows.
What homoeopathic pharmacology does, in essence, is to escape from the empire of quantity and step into the realm of quality. Quite impressive to think that this transmutation actually takes place in a kitchenlike environment with the help of humble tools, a mortar and a couple of bottles, a little water and very minute quantities of 70% ethyl alcohol.
The above-mentioned do in no way diminish the greatness of the work of Dr. Jan Scholten, homeopath and chemist in Utrecht, Netherlands, and that of pharmacist Robert Münz in Eisenstadt, Austria. The former had the vision, the latter prepared the remedies. In some cases, the pharmacist had to resort to military laboratories in order to obtain, under strict escort, the ludicrously small quantities needed to prepare the remedy.
Once prepared, the remedy presents a tremendous potential. For itself alone it will never be of any use. It is solely of use when it meets the living organism found in an analogous or, in other words, similar state. In addition, its use translates into healing.
In 1993, Jan Scholten's book Homoeopathy and Minerals appeared, exposing the connection between the clinical characteristics of mineral remedies (i.e. those obtained from proofs on healthy human subjects, from toxicological data and from healing cases) and the chemical characteristics of the substances involved in these remedies. Also, estimates were made regarding the weight of the element in its elemental form as well as regading the weight of the accompanying anions in the form of salts. Basically, Jan Scholten discovered a grammar and translated it from the language of chemistry to that of clinical medicine.
This grammar is in fact the theory of elements, 3 which relate the 7 series (periods) of the periodic table to as many levels/phases in human life, while the periodic table groups become as many stages in the natural evolution of each level. By natural evolution, we mean the Gaussian curve that describes the emergence, the growth, the peak and the decline of a phenomenon. There is always an element corresponding to the present state of the subject in its history at the crossing point between series and stage. In addition, if the subject's problematic is to be searched in the mineral kingdom, then we have just found half of the solution: that is the similar element. The other half is the salt of the element when its elemental form is not sufficient to cover the picture of the subject's need.
Lanthanum and the lanthanides would seem to correspond to the Gold series [6], as shown in the flat image of the periodic table. However, if we use an image that is closer to the depth of things, we will see that the lanthanides, like the actinides, present a special situation deriving from their essential characteristic of filling up the 4f and 5f orbitals, respectively. Hence, the lanthanides should be considered otherwise than part of the Gold series. The individuality of the lanthanide group is evident in all the above layouts of the periodic table, as well as in the one below (Fig. 5).
The characteristics of Lanthanides and their corresponding clinical behavior show that "they are different": we could say they truly bring out the third dimension; therefore their life is not lived in the "plane". By investigating their profound nature, we will notice that they do not fit into the theme of power over others and leadership. Alternatively, at least, these Gold series themes follow quite the opposite direction in the case of lanthanides. The struggle for power over others, dominance over otherness, peculiar to the Gold series, is reversed by the lanthanides into the opposite direction: mastery of the self, not over others, self-independence and self-government expressed as autonomy. Lanthanide problematic is about acquiring, preserving and controlling the self. The Self is their battlefield, their aspiration horizon. To dominate or be dominated, to own or be owned is what they abhor the most. The use of minerals as seen through the lens of the theory of elements, an approach initiated by Scholten in his 1993 book Homoeopathy and Minerals, continued, enriched and nuanced in Homoeopathy and the Elements (1996), reaches its acme with Secret Lanthanides in 2005.
Why acme, you may ask? Because this entire path, strengthened by accumulated experimental and clinical confirmations from colleagues who have followed his footsteps since 1994 up until now [6-40], made possible the sudden introduction of a whole group of elements and compounds into the therapeutic arsenal of homoeopathy: the lanthanides. This is an unprecedented fact in the history of the homoeopathic medicine.

Conclusions
The reliability of the method of translating the physicochemical language into the clinical language while keeping the same "grammar" made possible the approximation of the clinical picture of a remedy based on its physical and chemical behavior. This approximation is sufficient to justify and guide the clinical use of the remedy, and to open the door of experience.
It is interesting to note that remedies derived from the lanthanides address both a specific human typology and a subtle and, at the same time, a powerful pathology.
The human typology in question is one for which the quest for the self and its meaning in the universe is truly important, overwhelming at times, with a great desire for independence and autonomy, often going through unsustainable contradictions. These contradictions are reflected in the noble tissue conditions, which often have a functional nature, such as central coordination disorders or lesion-functional, such as autoimmune processes.
Having attended Dr. Jan Scholten's seminars on lanthanides prior to the release of Secret Lanthanides and having acquired the lanthanide-based homeopathic remedies kit from Robert Münz Remedia Pharmacy in Eisenstadt, I have enjoyed the chance of using them ever since 2003.
As an endocrinologist, I was daily confronted with pathologies such as autoimmune thyroiditis, a situation where the body produces antibodies against its own structures: these cases were unexpectedly solved with the help of lanthanide-compound-based remedies.
As a homoeopath, the central nervous system coordination disorders such as dyslexia, various disorders of striated and smooth muscle, growth delays and distortions have often found support in a lanthanide-based treatment. The cases solved have strengthened my conviction that the lanthanides as homeopathic remedies came at the right time to meet the stressing human needs of our era and find a solution for them right here, in the 4f series of the periodic table.